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Friday, July 11, 2014

11 July - Blogs I'm Following

*Among the pictures I found when I looked at the still-there Crumbs website
today was this one, which originally I thought was too heartbreaking to
reproduce. Then I thought it would help us remember all those people who
found out suddenly this week that they were out of work. If it's any
comfort to the young lady on the far right, it wouldn't have made any
difference if she'd had her Crumbs cap for the photo.*
*by Ken*
Okay, it may be premature to write an obituary for Crumbs Bake Shops. The
NYT's Sydney Ember is now reporting: "Crumbs Cupcakes May Live Another Day."
It’s not ove... more »

Thomas Lynch on the turmoil in Iraq. Source: CCTV America. Date Published:
July 11, 2014. Description:
For more on the turmoil in Iraq, we are joined by Thomas Lynch. He is a
research fellow for South Asia and the Near East at the Institute of
National Strategic Studies here in Washington DC, and he also writes and
lectures on the Middle East.

It's late Friday night. I should be in bed doing crossword puzzles. But
It's been a bloody annoying day - starting with a CTV "news" report on
Palestine. And once annoyance after another came to me mind that I must
write about some day. Not tonight. Tonight is just about things I should
write about - and I thought maybe it might get you thinking, and sending in
things that have always bugged you.
1. The CTV news on Palestine was so biased and ignorant it was painful to
watch. These TV news bits with there exquisitely coiffed women news
readers, and the men, usually men, who claim t... more »

*“LeBron Congratulates People of Cleveland on Having Him Back”*
by Andy Borowitz
CLEVELAND (The Borowitz Report) — “In an emotional speech to the people of
Cleveland on Friday, N.B.A. superstar LeBron James congratulated them on
“realizing the incredible dream of having me back.” Appearing as a
fifty-foot hologram projected on the side of Quicken Loans Arena, James
seemed on the verge of tears several times as he praised the city for
achieving what he called “a goal no words can describe.” “The city of
Cleveland has taken some hard knocks over the years,” James said. “But here
you ... more »

*Wouldn't you guess Zhongshan is lovely this time of year? I hope if when
my DVDs arrive, they have not only nice pictures from home but maybe some
amusing stories.*
*by Ken*
We all know how Jerry Seinfeld and in particular his friend George Costanza
lurked on the fringes of the import-export business. Little did I imagine
that one day I would find myself too on the periphery of this noble
calling. If When I actually get my stuff, I think I will qualify more or
less officially as a *video importer*.
Which brings us to the picturesque Chinese metropolis depicted above. Ah,
Zhongsh... more »

Whenever
the United States or its partners in war crimes face a seemingly
intractable foreign adversary - one that refuses to simply yield to
Western domination or diktat - the "ticking clock" paradigm is invoked,
lending a fierce urgency to the threats, ultimatums, and bullying
demands made by government officials. For them, time is always running
out.
Whether it's the non-existent "

At this point it is difficult to see the Obama administration, the
warmongering neocons at the State Department and the constantly squealing
authoritarian freaks in Congress getting any bigger bug up their asses than
the one that they already have embedded there against Russian leader
Vladimir Putin so it remains to be seen how much weeping and gnashing of
the teeth will occur now that the word out of Russia is that NSA
whistleblower Edward Snowden's asylum is likely to be extended. This would
be great news for those of us in *The Homeland* and the larger world
outside who value t... more »

*"Confessions of a Former Child Laborer" *
by Bill Bonner
"I wish we could get into that painfulness stuff."
– One luggage handler to another, overheard in the airport in Paris
"Today, exceptionally, we write about something we know something about:
painfulness. This is our translation of a new concept in French labor law.
It involves something called "la pénibilité," which refers to the
difficulty, suffering or pain, involved in a job. Sitting at a desk in an
air-conditioned office involves little or no pénibilité. Carrying heavy
roof tiles up a steep ladder in the rain, by contras... more »

Let's not forget that the US and NATO have been funding, directing, and
training ISIS in Jordan in recent years. ISIS was being used to take down
Syria and were of no concern until they turned on Iraq. Blow back it is
called.

Tuesday we took a quick look at the story of how the NSA's war against
patriotic whistleblower Tom Drake persuaded Ed Snowden to move outside the
system to expose the criminal activities the government was perpetrating
against the American people. In the story we met William Binney. Up top is
the short documentary Laura Poitras did for the *NY Times* about Binney in
2012. It should scare your socks off.
Binney was a top intelligence officer/code breaker with the NSA for over 30
years. Like Drake-- and with Drake-- he was a by-the-book, patriotic
whistleblower when Bush and Cheney... more »

As Americans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the profit-driven
motives of big business, a documentary airing on PBS this month endeavors
to bring to light the worker-owned cooperative model that has begun to take
hold in many sectors throughout North America.
Shift Change, by filmmakers Melissa Young and Mark Dworkin, tells the
"little known" stories behind some of the most successful worker-owned
businesses in North America and Spain.

Canadian activist Roger Annis shares:
The internet is flooded with videos of the killings and rampages by
[Kiev's] fascist militias in eastern Ukraine. The fascists like to boast
about their murders and rampages. Here is one video of a battalion of the
neo-Nazi Right Sector near the village of Karlovka, southeast Ukraine on
July 6. Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh addresses his ‘troops’ shortly
after they had engaged in a skirmish with self defense fighters. Below is
the translated text of his remarks. Note the close ties with the Ukraine
army and U.S. advisors that Yarosh ackno... more »

Regis Tremblay writes:
This is a beautifully done short film showing the recent storm that just
brushed Jeju, but did great damage to the caissons that will be the docks
for the base. From Korean Director, Cho, Sung Bong.
This open water naval base being constructed on Jeju Island, South Korea to
port US warships is a contradiction in nature. When big typhoons come to
this area they will continually over power the man-made breakwater walls
being built with cement. The Samsung construction corporation that has the
contract to build the base will have to keep repairing the breakw... more »

Revolutionary politics has long been a fringe pursuit in Britain. The
parties and organisations representing this tradition have barely got two
activists to rub together. It has next to zero purchase in the media and as
for elections, forget it. Yet when it comes to ambition, it's vaulting.
Self-described revolutionary socialists seek nothing less than the seizure
of power and the building of a new, more democratic society. Therefore in
the 15 or so years I saw myself as part of the "movement", I approached
questions of theory and practice through this lens. How do we get from the
p... more »

*FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014*
*A peculiar follow-up question:* This morning, the New York Times continues
with its new story.
Hillary Clinton’s speaking fees aren’t just for the Washington Post any
more! This is the way Amy Chozick starts her new report:
CHOZICK (7/11/14): Of all the headaches of her current book tour—the
declining sales, the constant travel, *the interviews that generated unkind
headlines about her family’s wealth*—this one may sting Hillary Rodham
Clinton the most: Her memoir, “Hard Choices,” has just been toppled from
its spot on the best-seller list by a sensational... more »

I read yesterday that the US-NATO puppets in Kiev were moving heavy
artillery and tanks near their border with Crimea. The Kiev thugs have
been told to start a war with Russia by drawing them into eastern Ukraine.
Russia would only take such a step to protect the people who have called
for regional autonomy and are now being daily attacked by Kiev's
neo-fascist led army. But so far Russia has not taken the bait.
The puppet masters back in Washington, London and at NATO HQ in Brussels
are likely pounding the table in furry. They have to force Kiev to be even
more provocative in... more »

UPDATE at the BOTTOM- scroll down for update, unless you haven't read all
the news. *News roundup! : Rebels kill 23 Ukraine troops, shredding truce
hopes*
Ukraine's military on Friday reported losing 23 servicemen in clashes
across the separatist east that threatened to shatter slim Western hopes of
a truce in Europe's deadliest conflict in decades.
The defence ministry said the toll included 19 troops who died in a hail of
rockets fired from a* truck-mounted Grad rocket launcher system *-- a type
of weapon both Kiev and Washington insist could only have been covertly
supplied to th... more »

*...just a minor report of regional importance...*
Four miles from my home, in the village of Kyšice, they are building the
new tunnels and tracks for the sped up Pilsen-Prague railway path. I know
Kyšice very well not just because it's only 3 miles from my home but
because I like to pick walnuts over there every fall. You know, the tree
dares to transcend the private garden and reach the public roads which has
consequences. ;-)
See a blog post about the railway project. It's a standard practice that
archaeologists are checking the place before they irreversibly transform it.
... more »

*Recall all the** Putin bashing, call for boycotts, by the weaponized LGBT
groups around the Olympics*-
Story after story. The drama queens were out in full force. Some guy
dressed like a pink flamingo? Flamin'!
*The psyop was soooo obvious. The manipulation? Blatant!*
*Fast forward to Kiev. **And a " Terrifying Neo-Nazi Attack on Gay Club in
Kyiv"*
Notice the silence?
Notice the double standard? Notice the hypocrisy?
*Two nights after city officials in Kyiv (Kiev) cancelled gay Pride over
lack of security and fear that a small and ill-equipped police force would
not be able to p... more »

You must comment by August 3, 2014
Here is a link to the overall proposal
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0689-0001
Here is a link for an anonymous comment
http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0689-0051
My comment is quick, but pointed (hopefully!):
The EPA needs to adopt the precautionary approach. Any increase in exposure
to radiation increases risks for a range of diseases and congenital
conditions. Therefore, the EPA should reduce allowable exposure levels,
rather than increase allowable exposure. The precautionary ap... more »

I have been out in the sunshine
and even at this latitude
its bringing serious heat
I do not know know how
to deal with it
i just wish
I could store it somewhere
to hasten winters retreat
Cause all the things I know
are cosmic
and thats just ringing a bell
there are better explanations for everthing
but most of that truth will land you in hell
We need some instant gratification
make it rain on the desert or
fly without wings
on the plain.
In a world seeking
Justice
we spend a fortune
on spotters for Unicorns
to ease the pain.

Americans, dumbed down by a lazy, ignorant media and a substandard
education system, are fond of the idea that both parties are at fault. OK,
Republicans are idiots. What about Democrats? Here at *DWT* we tend to
blame the crumbling from within of the Democratic Party on corporate shills
like Steny Hoyer, Steve Israel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jim Himes and Joe
Crowley shredding the Democratic brand on behalf of their own careerism. At *The
Nation* yesterday, William Greider didn't personalize the problem, just
asked what the Democratic Party actually believes in.
To put it cru... more »

A very good thing will happen on Sunday, July 13, 2014, at the American
Federation of Teachers (AFT) convention in Los Angeles: The Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) will be debated on the floor. No behind-closed-doors
killing of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) resolution opposing CCSS.
As Politico states: Weingarten, for instance, has repeatedly said she
supports Common Core, but she […]

I know I do.
Obama listens to a typical little college student with really bad posture
talk about the plight of her parents who have both lost their jobs.
You can see the concern written all over his face. /sarc
via New York Post:
Already under attack by critics who say he’s lost interest in his job,
President Obama added fuel to the fire on Thursday with a drowsy appearance
in Texas.
A heavy-lidded Obama struggled to keep his head up during a one-on-one talk
in an Austin cafe with a college student whose parents lost their jobs last
year.
Kinsey Button, a junior at the University ... more »

I may touch elbows with some of you
but I never imaged
it could make your life explode
and that is the mortor
of realiaty that reigns
down on the living
or as the MAN say
everyone exposed.
Pam says we like French Viaginas, and I say something (snatch conversation)
about a snatch quotation? This is how petty I am and why I hate liberals
and will vote conservative in the next election. You liberal punks make me
want to bring back capital punishment , and I will so I can execute you
next time.
I am voting for more riot gear, and true Canadians who hate scumbags
be aware we are looking... more »

*FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014*
*Part 4—As flailed by Chris Hayes and two guests:* As part of her recent
iconic text, Krystal Ball discussed Hillary Clinton’s June 12 appearance on
the NPR program, Fresh Air.
Gack! In the passage shown below, the highly suggestible, hapless young
pundit delivered a succession of time-honored RNC scripts. Over the course
of these many years, these scripts have been widely adopted by droogs in
the “mainstream press corps:”
BALL (6/17/14): *Then there was an uncomfortable exchange with NPR’s Terry
Gross in which Hillary struggled at length to sort through he... more »

Look a-yonder what's coming down that railroad track. It's the Oil Bombin'
Special, and while it's not bringing your baby back, it is most definitely
bringing the Bakken. Crude, that is: millions of gallons of highly
flammable fracked Bakken oil and Alberta tar sands product are sloshing at
breakneck speed through thousands of North American towns, every single
day.
Towns like Lac-Megantic, Quebec where one year ago this month an oil train
derailed and exploded, killing 47 people and incinerating the central
business district.
If you live within half a mile of railroad tracks, c... more »

Even though Pioneer Day isn't celebrated all over, it doesn't mean that
everyone can't join in the fun and channel their inner Laura Ingalls
Wilder. Here are some fun things to create with kids that celebrate
America's Pioneer heritage.
Pioneer Bonnets by My Cotton Creations.
Climbing Bear Toy by Tutorial Adventures.
Cardboard Covered Wagon by All Things Beautiful.
Buzz Saw Pioneer Toy on Housewife Eclectic
Corn Husk Dolls by Martha Stewart.
Peg People Little House in the Big Woods Log Cabin on Craftster.
Making Butter with Kids by Mess For Less.
Rag Doll by Miss Gioia
[imag... more »

*Hope*
~ George Frederic Watts, 1886
"To the philosopher, the physician, the meteorologist and the chemist,
there is perhaps no subject more attractive than that of ozone." ~ C.B Fox,
1873
There is a man who lives on the other side of my village (it is said) who
one day, setting out for errands, inadvertently ran over his child as he
backed out of the driveway. Ever since I heard this tragic tale, I have
thought I can imagine the moment that, thunderstruck with horror and frozen
in disbelief, he gazed upon that little mangled body. I think I know the
ferocious dread that overc... more »

I have found that it is possible to put HTML tags in the post title which
means that you just have to add a tag
Thus if you want an image followed by the post title, you will then type
into the field for the post title the following:
"put the post title here without the quotes"
replacing "picture url" with the actual picture url and "post title" with
the actual post title. Below a screenshot to illustrate:
[image: picture before post title]

We know Isaac Newton as the founder of classical physics in the modern
sense and perhaps the most ingenious scientist in the mankind's history.
He's been doing many impressive things and some of them look crazy. But
before you suggest that Newton wasn't the top expert in pretty much every
discipline he touched, you should read his
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended by Isaac Newton
which was published as an e-book in 2005.
It's a fun reading for the summer. You will learn about every one among
hundreds of kings of dozens of empires and every single act they have done
in t... more »

The world in the MAN's eye is nothing more than a giant development site. Increasing
the value and selling the muppets is the only reason we exist.
Climate change is caused by God and we have no part in the mess. Lets build
giant dams like the Dutch and pretend the land is not an ocean on which we
exist. Did you know the Dutch surrendered to the seas a generation ago.
King Kantue or Dick Cheney which absolutist would you fell if you had a
chance to blow?
The MAN made good business for thousands of years without oil. However
without water all his churn would be worthless. Now in fact ... more »

One of my pet peeves with the Left is the lack of vision about the world
they want to see. Sure, "social justice" and "environmental sanity" are
excellent values, but what are the mechanics for achieving this?
Some on the left favour remaining powerless children, petitioning their
masters to somehow make these things happen.
Others prefer mindlessly voting for sell-out political parties to legislate
these things within a capitalist political economy..
More "radical" types advocate "tearing everything down" (whatever that
means) and rebuilding a new world from scratch (with no indica... more »

Below are funders of the Hechinger Report, and yesterday's hosannas for
Common Core by Hechinger make it clear that the kinder and gentler
corporate ed reform propaganda sheet has kicked its coverage up a notch.
The piece is written a Taylor McGraw, TFA alum and Eva Moskowitz chain gang
employee.
If you decide to read it, note how the piece frames the Common Core as a
liberation document at the forefront of Civil Rights. Perhaps such
ideological blinders are what's required for these young fascists to be
driven to any length to sacrifice these children's childhood for a bunch of
g... more »

Ambassador Ron Prosor explaining matters at the United Nations. This video
should be compulsory viewing for the anti Israel brigade who infest most
media organisations, especially the vile BBC http://youtu.be/XCbyCQlczLc

At this point, no one even knows for sure that opportunistic Massachusetts
carpetbagger Scott Brown will actually be the candidate New Hampshire
Republicans decide to run against popular Senator Jeanne Shaheen. Former
Senator Robert Smith, an underdog and crackpot who's running to the right
of Brown, appears stronger with the GOP base than anyone had thought--
despite the endorsements Brown has trotted out from the mistrusted GOP
Establishment (Romney, Ayotte, Sununu. Merrill…). Most polls of Republican
voters show "undecided" in the top slot. That said, let's go along with
conven... more »

No sooner had the newly elected Kathleen Wynne tabled her budget than
Moody's -- the bond rating agency -- pounced. But, Linda McQuaig writes, it
wasn't much of a pounce:
In fact, Moody’s only tweaked things slightly — it maintained Ontario’s
perfectly acceptable current rating (Aa2), but downgraded the outlook from
stable to negative – not a huge change, and one that didn’t even lead to
higher interest on Ontario bonds.
Conservatives, however, jumped all over the news:
“It’s a very big deal,” solemnly cautioned Stockwell Day, former
Conservative finance minister, on CBC-TV’s Po... more »

An AOL Jobs reader asked:
Good afternoon, I have a question. I was just told by my supervisor that I
cannot speak Spanish to my coworkers in our department. She states that
some other non-Spanish speaking workers claim it makes them uncomfortable.
I am asked to assist Spanish-speaking customers with no additional pay, but
this is not a concern. I will certainly comply with this request, but I am
not sure if it is fair or even legal. I hope you can clarify this for me.
Thank you for your assistance.
I'm always surprised how many employers try to impose English-only policies
or ban s... more »

[image: no-ttip.png]Source of Picture:
http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/the_hidden_threat_of_the_ttip_deal
The European Commission is seeking views from Europeans on* the
controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) proposals *in the
Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnerhip or TTIP. ISDS would *give
corporations the power to sue our governments* if they thought a law hurt
their profits -- this could be on anything from environmental rules,
anti-smoking laws or rules on corporate taxes.
"Investor-state dispute settlement" is bad news. It's always ... more »

Conjuring up the inevitable references to Nero fiddling while Rome burned,
President Barack Obama took a bit of time out of his daily duties to goof
off, eat pizza, suck down some suds and play billiards in Denver. Tough gig
presiding over the most vicious and hellbent at global domination empire of
the past seventy or so years so the big man - or "the bear" as he now
apparently now refers to himself. Hell, it's not like there is really
anything going on in the world like an out of control surveillance machine
spying on millions of American citizens, nor his neo-Nazi packed death
... more »

Anti War...
ISIS Fights Its Way Into Army Base NE of BaghdadIraq Insists Base Isn't
Lost Yet
by Jason Ditz, July 10, 2014
Print This | Share This
ISIS fighters are continuing to expand across the area north of Baghdad,
and have moved into the Diyala Province, where they fought there way onto
an army base near Muqdadiya.
The base is one of the last Iraqi military positions in the north, and
while they confirmed part of it is now under ISIS control, they insist they
will retake the area soon.
The loss of the base would give ISIS a foothold on yet another key northern
highway, heading i... more »

*“Weekly News Wrap-Up 7.11.14”*
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
“I warned last week about the kidnapping and murder of three Israelis and
revenge killing of a Palestinian teen sparking violence in Israel. My fear
is now been confirmed with Hamas rocket attacks on various targets in
Israel. Israel is making counter attacks that have claimed the lives of
dozens in Gaza. One big development is the rockets that Hamas is using are
now more powerful and have up to a 100 mile range. In 2012, the rockets had
only a 50 mile range. Israel has called up at least 40,000 troops and is
getting ... more »

*As you can see, the number of people identifying as "Taiwanese" is
reaching record highs, just as the number of people identifying as
Taiwanese-Chinese and Chinese is reaching record lows. This is from the
former political warfare university, but my experience is that it is pretty
close to reality. Among the young even more would identify as Taiwanese. *
The free economic zones are looking more and more like a plot to flood
Taiwan with cheap China crap and destroy its agriculture. A few days ago,
after noting that the government is attempting to focus the discussion on
trivia, a p... more »

Navy officials unveiled two prototype weapons Tuesday that have been
cloaked in secrecy for years, and are capable of firing seven times the
speed of sound.
They are electromagnetic railguns, developed by the Office of Naval
Research.
A railgun can fire a projectile up to 5,600 miles per hour – about six
times faster than a bullet from a handgun – at a range of up to 110 miles,
Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder said.
It delivers up to 32 megajoules of energy.
Read more

...published as a sequel to his 1937 *children's fantasy novel* The Hobbit,
J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings has a copyright date of 1953 and has
astonishing relevance to the current Paedophile Ring Scandal that (once
again) threatens to disrupt the Elite/Serf status quo.
*one of five burning rings**1) The One Ring:*
some have likened 'the One Controlling Power that man can never hope to
control' to Nuclear Power. But it could have easily been about the
over-arching force of Global Paedo Rings to control the 'actions of man'
i.e. Politics, Religion, Business. There are many (paedo)... more »

[image: HMNZS Endeavour]The New Zealand government has approved plans for
the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to replace the HMNZS Endeavour naval
tanker, in the face of increasing maintenance costs and non-compliance
issues with new international maritime regulations.
HMNZS Endeavour will reach the end of her service life in 2018. The purpose
built fleet replenishment tanker carries 5,500 tonnes of fuel in four tanks
for refuelling ships at sea or in overseas ports; and can also conduct
‘hot' refuelling for helicopters while they hover over the flight deck.
The vessel also transp... more »

[image: S-400 Triumf]China may become the first buyer of Russia's S-400
anti-aircraft missile system, the Kremlin's chief of staff Sergei Ivanov
said on Thursday.
"Chances that China may be the first foreign buyer [of S-400s] are high,"
he told reporters.
S-400, a new-generation long and medium-range anti-aircraft missile system,
is capable of destroying all the existing air attack weapons, including
tactical and strategic aircraft, ballistic missiles and hypersonic targets.
Read more

[image: F-35 Lightning II]Today, the Department of Defense announced an
agreement aimed at reducing the price of an F-35 Lightning II 5th
generation fighter to the equivalent of today’s 4th generation fighters by
the end of the decade.
Designated “The Blueprint for Affordability,” the DoD and F-35 industry
partners – Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems signed an
agreement to implement cost reduction initiatives to lower the production
costs of F-35 aircraft.
The agreement is built upon the U.S. Government’s Better Buying Power 2.0
initiative, which encouraged defense... more »

[image: S-300PMU2 Gladiator]The Russian Defense Ministry has signed a
contract to give Belarus four S-300 air defense systems, which are worth
hundreds of millions of dollars, free of charge, a top Russian military
official told ITAR-Tass on Thursday.
The S-300 is one of the world's most sought after air defense systems. Its
radar can hone in on aircraft, cruise missiles and even ballistic missiles,
and destroy targets as far away as 150 kilometers, launching one missile
every three seconds.
The S-300s will be handed over as soon as the Belarussian Defense Ministry
signs the contac... more »

[image: Iskander-E missile system]Iskander-E mobile theater ballistic
missile systems are ready for export, awaiting a decision by state
authorities, the head of the Russian delegation to arms and military
exhibition MILEX-2014 Valery Varlamov said Thursday, according to RIA
Novosti.
"Iskander-E [NATO reporting name: SS-26 Stone] is ready for deliveries to
other countries, as well as S-400 Triumf [NATO reporting name: SA-21
Growler], but the state authorities need to approve it first," Varlamov
said.
The representative said that Russia "will deliver [the systems] to any
country, ... more »

With F-35s still grounded across the country, Secretary of Defense Chuck
Hagel visited the F-35 training wing here on Thursday to reinforce the
Pentagon’s commitment to developing the military’s newest fighter jet.
“This aircraft is the future of fighter aircraft for all our services,”
Hagel said to about 200 service members gathered in an F-35 hangar. “The
F-35 is as big a project as we have and we’ve got a lot riding on it.”
Though the F-35 is still in development, the Air Force, Marines and Navy —
which all have their own versions of the aircraft — have already started
training ... more »

[image: HC-144 Ocean Sentry]450 search and rescue cases. 591 people in
distress. 83 saved lives.
Sound like a lot to handle? These numbers are just a snap shot of the
annual missions carried out by personnel assigned to Air Station Corpus
Christi, Texas.
With this level of responsibility, it is only fitting that the air station
recently received their first HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircraft, the newest
aircraft in the Coast Guard fleet.
Read more

[image: Defender patrol boat]The United States has donated a Defender
patrol boat to the Togolese Navy, adding to the two previously donated to
the West African nation.
The vessel was handed over by United States ambassador Phillip Carter III
on June 25, together with a boathouse for maintenance, at the naval base in
the capital Lome.
The Togolese military (FAT) said the donation would help the navy
strengthen its capabilities in the fight against maritime piracy in the
Gulf of Guinea.
Read more

[image: F-35B Lightning II]Lockheed Martin and its corporate partners on
the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter announced a new plan Thursday to reduce costs
on the over-budget program even as the next-generation jet remained
grounded on the eve of scheduled appearances at international airshows in
Great Britain.
The companies pledged to spend $170 million through 2016 to help bring down
the cost of the fighter jet from more than $100 million apiece to about $80
million by the end of the decade.
The upfront investment by Lockheed, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems to pay
for cost-reduction i... more »

[image: X-47B UCLASS]Congressional leaders have asked the defense secretary
to review existing plans for the Navy’s carrier-launched drone program,
expressing concerns that the written requirements are too narrowly
configured and do not meet the threats and mission demands of the future.
As a result, the Defense Department’s Joint Requirement Oversight Council
has launched a review of the program ahead of the Navy’s planned release of
its Request for Proposals to industry.
The Navy plans to have the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance
and Strike (UCLASS) drone operationa... more »

[image: Naval LCA Tejas]The naval variant of India's indigenous light
combat aircraft (LCA) is due to soon begin ramp trials.
Avinash Chander, scientific adviser to the Defence Minister and Director
General Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), told India
Strategic magazine (www.indiastrategic.in) that the LCA-Navy had already
done more than 25 test flights from a runway.
As these were successful and met the designated parameters, the aircraft
will now be deployed at a naval base in Goa to commence ramp flights,
probably after the monsoon.
Read more

[image: INS Kolkata]The INS Kolkata, lead ship in the Kolkata-class stealth
destroyers, was handed over to the Indian Navy on Thursday after extensive
sea trials and tests, 11 years after the construction began in 2003 at the
Mazgaon Docks Limited (MDL).
The ships are the second group of three indigenously built stealth warships
after the Shivalik-class boats, while the official commissioning ceremony
is expected to take place in a month’s time.
The same ship had seen naval engineer Commander Kuntal Wadhwa lose his life
after a prolonged exposure to CO2 gas on March 6, suspected to... more »

[image: Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile]Once again, our military leaders
face a tradeoff. Can the United States meet the serious new security
challenges we face while staying within strict budget limits?
To do so, policymakers will have to make some very tough choices that
leverage our existing capabilities while also planning for the future.
Foreign threats to America and her allies will not diminish simply because
of American fiscal restraints.
Indeed, Iran and North Korea are both well on their way toward developing
the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead on target. Violence... more »

Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, “Flint Hill Special”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qbB4Kq3Y0
"All under the age of 16, brothers Jonny, Robbie and Tommy Mizzone are from
New Jersey, a US state that's better known for the rock of Bruce
Springsteen than the bluegrass of Earl Scruggs. Nonetheless, the siblings
began performing bluegrass covers, as well as their own compositions, at a
young age. Here, they play three dazzling songs in three different keys,
passing the lead back and forth from fiddle to banjo to guitar."
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB8UTheTR7s

[image: Kamorta class corvette]A dab of paint here and a bit of polish
there. There is hectic activity at the Fitting Out Jetty (FOJ) of the
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.
The country's oldest defence shipyard is all set to sail out India's first
indigenously-built and most advanced submarine hunter-killer. The INS
Kamorta, the first Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Corvette under the Navy's
Project-28 will be formally handed over to the navy on Saturday.
After sailing from Kolkata in the next few days, with commissioning captain
commander Manoj Jha in char... more »

[image: The three Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarines stationed
at Yulin naval base of Hainan island]The People's Liberation Army Navy has
deployed three nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines to its South
Sea Fleet base on the southern island province of Hainan, according to the
Manila-based InterAksyon news website in a report published July 8.
The Chinese navy displayed a photo on the internet which suggested that
three Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarines are currently
stationed at the Yulin naval base in Hainan, according to the report.
The paper s... more »

* Warmer Climate Could Mean More Kidney Stones?*
*Crap! The underlying journal article is Daily Mean Temperature and
Clinical Kidney Stone Presentation in Five U.S. Metropolitan Areas: A
Time-Series Analysis. The findings are correlational ones so do not enable
inferences about causes. And the elevation of risk associated with
temperature was very slight anyway. Relative risks were around 1.3. The
Federal Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, Second Edition says (p.
384): "the threshold for concluding that an agent was more likely than not
the cause of an individual's disea... more »

[image: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel]During a visit to the East Coast
homeport for six Ohio-class fleet ballistic-missile and two guided-missile
submarines here yesterday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with 14
female submariners, toured the ballistic-missile submarine USS Tennessee,
and took questions at an event with 180 sailors, Marines and Coast
Guardsmen.
The secretary’s stop here was the on first day of a two-day trip that
includes visits today to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, home to the Air
Force’s first full squadron of F-35A Lightning II joint strike fighter
airc... more »

Every time the government of Israel attacks Gaza mercilessly, using the
rationale that it is only interested in wiping out Hamas's military
capabilities, it is worth reminding ourselves that the Israeli government
created Hamas in the first place.
The track records of both the criminal Israeli government and of Hamas's
criminal leadership is one of terrorism, torture, collective brainwashing,
cruel punishment, oppression, censorship of the press, and backstabbing
their allies. The last one is the most ungodly.
The victims in this senseless struggle are the peoples of Israel and
... more »

For
years, Israeli politicians and their willing mouthpieces in the
American press and punditocracy have maintained that Iran, in addition
to feverishly working to build nuclear weapons, will have acquired the
ability to affix an atomic bomb to an intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) capable of hitting the United States by the year 2015.
This claim eagerly exploited the boilerplate

If Palin saw herself as the tip of the Republican spear on impeachment…
there's not much spear behind the tip. First of all, a new NBC News/*Wall
Street Journal* poll shows that most Americans just wish she'd go away and
shut up already. Most Democrats, most independents and almost half the
Republicans are sick and tired of her crazy, empty-headed extremist
hectoring. Overall 54% of Americans just do not want to hear anything from
her anymore-- even worse than the 45% of Americans who hope to never hear
anything more about Cheney before his funeral announcement.
And it isn't just ... more »

It has taken many years, but the evidence has become incontrovertible,
despite deliberate efforts to censor public understanding.
The Washington Post explains in McCoy, T. (2014, July). A Reason Millions
of Bees are Dying. The Washington Post,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/10/the-surprisingly-simple-reason-millions-of-bees-are-dying/
In the past several weeks, a spate of studies have appeared in scientific
journals suggesting the culprit behind such deaths are widely-used
pesticides called neonicotinoids.
And it’s not just bees that have been impacted... more »

2014/06/11
Winkler Partners seeks communications coordinator (job opening)
We are looking for a communications coordinator. The successful candidate
will likely have considerable experience in, and/or enthusiasm for, a
bilingual, multicultural environment, flat management organisation that is
constantly balancing the interests of our clients, colleagues and
community. Other attributes will likely include social and other media
fluency, good eye for connections (i.e., people and organisations, as well
as how things connect), some fluency with numbers, interest in people and
long te... more »

*“Americans Unhappy to Be Reminded That Sarah Palin Exists”*
by Andy Borowitz
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— “A new poll released Thursday reveals
that a broad majority of Americans describe themselves as “deeply unhappy”
to have been reminded that the former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin exists.
Palin’s call for the impeachment of President Obama, a ploy to remind
people that she still roams the earth, appears to have backfired, the poll
shows. With seventy-two per cent of respondents saying that they were
“upset” or “very upset” to be reminded of her existence, Palin is one of
t... more »

On July 10, 2014, three members of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education (BESE)– President Chas Roemer, James Garvey, and
Holly Boffy– decided that they would make Governor Bobby Jindal an offer
regarding a plan for 2014-15 assessments in Louisiana schools. Within
hours, Jindal rejected the Roemer et al. offer. The decision to […]

Video Title: Shell Shock and the Emotional History of the First World War a
lecture by Professor Jay Winter. Source: The British Academy. Date
Published: July 10, 2014. Description:
Held at the British Academy on July 9 2014, this lecture looked at shell
shock as a new category of emotional response to the terrors of modern war,
arising not from individual war experience, but from the monstrous
character of the war itself. Professor Winter will contend that the number
of men suffering from psychological disabilities after the First World War
has been significantly underestimated. ... more »

The Polar Vortex Is Back... In The Middle Of July
[image: Tyler Durden's picture]
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/10/2014 19:55 -0400
- Bank of Japan
- El Nino
- Japan
- Obamacare
- Recession
inShare1
While every single economist and "*straight to CNBC*" pundit was quick to
blast the atrocious economic performance in Q1 as solely due to the "harsh
weather", what has emerged in various retail earnings reports so far in Q2
is that, drumroll, they lied. In fact, as one after another "stunned"
retailer admits, the depressed spending observed during Q1 continued, ... more »

*DNAinfo New York caption ("Private School Stole Parking Spots from
Residents, They Say"):* *"Residents want three parking spots returned to
alternate side parking instead of 'no standing' by the DOT."*
*by Ken*
This may be too personal a reaction to today's story, but heck, it's my
blogpost, so for once I get to say whatever I want.
Anyway, in thinking about this problem -- which is to say, the problem of
ensuring adequate drop-off and/or parking facilities for the chauffeurs of
children who are chauffeured to school -- one of my first thoughts was for
once to be grateful for bei... more »

As part of its propaganda against Israel’s enemies, Israeli and
neoconservative propagandists like to present Palestinian fighters as
cowards that hide behind so-called ‘human shields’.
Neoconservative propagandist Jonathan Tobin, for example, today writes
that, “having decided to escalate another round of violence by launching
hundreds of rockets into Israel, the Islamist group is still hoping to use
the presence of Palestinian civilians around legitimate military targets as
a weapon against the Jewish state”. However, as Tobin concedes, the Gaza
Strip is extremely densely populate... more »

“Majestic nebulae and stars of our Milky Way Galaxy stretch across this
panoramic image of the entire night sky. At full resolution, the 5
gigapixel mosaic was stitched together from over 37,000 images, the result
of a season following, year long effort and 60,000 travel miles in search
of still dark skies in the American west and the western Cape of South
Africa.
*Click image for larger sizes.*
*‧*
The well-planned project combined many exposures from the dark sites,
intended to produce an inspiring view of the night to rival the brightness
of day. An interactive journey through th... more »

*“There Is Time Left”*
“Well, there is time left –
fields everywhere invite you into them.
And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away
from wherever you are, to look for your soul?
Quickly, then, get up, put on your coat, leave your desk!
To put one's foot into the door of the grass, which is
the mystery, which is death as well as life,
and not be afraid!
To set one's foot in the door of death,
and be overcome with amazement!”
~ Mary Oliver

*“Freedom”*
"And an orator said, “Speak to us of Freedom.”
And he (the prophet) answered:
At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself
and worship your own freedom, Even as slaves humble themselves before
a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.
Aye, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have
seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.
And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even
the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you,
and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goa... more »

"It seems to me that almost all our sadnesses are moments of tension, which
we feel as paralysis because we no longer hear our astonished emotions
living. Because we are alone with the unfamiliar presence that has entered
us; because everything we trust and are used to is for a moment taken away
from us; because we stand in the midst of a transition where we cannot
remain standing. That is why the sadness passes: the new presence inside
us, the presence that has been added, has entered our heart, has gone into
its innermost chamber and is no longer even there, - is already in our
b... more »

*"The Power Of The Word"*
by Paulo Coelho
"Of all the powerful weapons of destruction that man has invented, the most
terrible – and the most cowardly – is the word. Knives and firearms leave
traces of blood. Bombs shake whole buildings and streets. Poisons can
always be detected. But a destructive word can provoke Evil without leaving
behind it a single clue.
Check to see if you yourself are using this weapon. Children are subject to
years of conditioning by their parents, artists are mercilessly pilloried,
women are systematically undermined by remarks made by their husbands, the... more »

"The thought of the disaster which almost certainly lay in wait for the
Other Men threw me into a horror of doubt about the universe in which such
a thing could happen. That a whole world of intelligent beings could be
destroyed was not an unfamiliar idea to me; but there is a great difference
between an abstract possibility and a concrete and inescapable danger. On
my native planet, whenever I had been dismayed by the suffering and the
futility of individuals, I had taken comfort in the thought that at least
the massed effect of all our blind striving must be the slow but glorious ... more »

"There's a truth deeper than experience. It's beyond what we see, or even
what we feel. It's an order of truth that separates the profound from the
merely clever, and the reality from the perception. We're helpless,
usually, in the face of it; and the cost of knowing it, like the cost of
knowing love, is sometimes greater than any heart would willingly pay. It
doesn't always help us to love the world, but it does prevent us from
hating the world. And the only way to know that truth is to share it, from
heart to heart, just as Prabhakar told it to me, just as I'm telling it to
you n... more »

So, both-siderism rears its ugly head (and prevails) again. What Heather
says: There are some areas of agreement among the left and right populists.
They are both hostile to the “wealthy bipartisan elite” although for
somewhat different reasons. It’s possible there could be some common
legislative ground if both sides were sincere in their desire to rein in
money in politics. But Sarah

As missiles and rockets fly from the Gaza Strip ever further into Israel,
the Israeli government are seeing support in Israel for action against
Hamas increasing. It’s just what the “don’t care what the world thinks”
faction of the Israeli extreme right wants to see. It strengthens their
argument for calling on Netanyahu to launch a full-on invasion of the Gaza
Strip and the West Bank in order to wipe out Hamas completely.
Netanyahu, however, remains reluctant to go the full distance just yet,
fearful of world opinion and a continuing lack of support for such a move
from both Europ... more »

*"Land of the Free? Don't Make Us Laugh..."*
by Bill Bonner
"Dear Diary,
We are in Annecy, a beautiful French city on a lake. What takes us here?
Business, of course. We travel a lot. But never for fun. That is not to say
we don't enjoy it. We do. But you can't have much fun by trying to have
fun. It has to come into your life, unbidden – like love or hummingbirds.
Here in picturesque France, we think of home. Baltimore. America.
Annecy is not Baltimore, but what is? As for America, what happened to it?
A new Gallup poll shows freedom is on the wane in the Land of the Free.
Free ... more »

I'm beginning this on the evening of July 9 so that tomorrow I can write,
"I told you so".
The federal justice committee is interviewing social workers, people in the
sex trade, etc. to work on legislation to cut down on the sex trade,and to
help people caught in it. Today, a quite dreadful incident in the
questioning was reported by news media across Canada - but not in the
Irving press. Tonight, I'm gambling to say the Irving press won't have it
tomorrow, either. It involves Conservative MP Robert Goguen of Moncton (the
city that is strong, and will recover.)
My impression when h... more »

*"Communications data have played a significant role in every Security
Service counter-terrorism operation over the last decade. They have been
used as evidence in 95% of all serious organised crime cases handled by the
Crown Prosecution Service and they have played a significant role in the
investigation of many of the most serious crimes in recent times, including
the Oxford and Rochdale child grooming cases, the murder of Holly Wells and
Jessica Chapman, and the murder of Rhys Jones. *
*Communications data can prove or disprove alibis, identify associations
between potential c... more »

While I was researching this morning's lesbian piece, I saw how, in 1997,
ambitious Buffalo closet case Bill Paxon used the power position Speaker
Newt Gingrich had appointed him to, chair of the NRCC, to attempt a coup
against Gingrich. Paxon plotted with House Republican power brokers Dick
Armey, Tom DeLay and John Boehner to oust Gingrich, whose bizarre behavior
had become a drag on Republican election prospects. However, each of the
plotters saw himself as the next Speaker and when Armey sensed the plum was
falling into Paxon's gay lap, he snitched to Gingrich. Gingrich forced ... more »

As Air Force One prepared to touch down in the Holy Land last year, I
looked out my window and was once again struck by the fact that Israel’s
security can be measured in a matter of minutes and miles. I’ve seen what
security means to those who live near the Blue Line, to children in Sderot
who just want to grow up without fear, to families who’ve lost their homes
and everything they have to Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s rockets.
And as a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain endured by the parents of
Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, who were tragically
kidnapped and m... more »

In 1990 while working for the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice we sued
NASA and the federal government trying to stop the launch of the space
probe Ulysses with deadly plutonium-238 onboard.
The man in this video, Andrew Kimbrell, was our lawyer in that case. We
lost and the rocket was successfully launched but the court action brought
tremendous global media coverage to our campaign to stop nuclear power in
space.

Chastened by her exhausting persecution as First Lady, HRC apparently
decided as a member of Congress to go along to get along. By James McEnteer
| The Rag Blog | July 10, 2014 Once upon a time, Hillary Rodham, the …
finish reading James McEnteer :
The age of compromises and the compromises
of age

*THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014*
*The Times gets into the act:* Finally, the New York Times found a way to
get into the act.
In the past month, the Washington Post has staged a jihad about Hillary
Clinton’s deeply troubling speaking fees. As we’ve noted, the New York
Times had almost completely ignored the topic.
This morning, that changed. The Times has found its way into the chase—and
her name is Chelsea Clinton.
Chelsea Clinton gets speaking fees too! Headline included, this is the way
the news report by Amy Chozick started. Please note the highlighted point:
CHOZICK (7/10/14): *Follo... more »

My book will be out in early October as opposed to Nov. This means it can
be ordered for fall/winter sessions...and spring... If you need more info
re teaching from the book, write me back: XColumn@gmail.com or follow link
on how to order books, etc.:
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/bid2497.htm
My publisher also sent me this message re exam copies for instructors:
If your colleagues would like to pre-order an exam copy of the book, they
can get in touch with me directly to send me a check, cash, or credit card
number (with expiration date, csc code, and billing address, name... more »

Some will say we are party poopers and that we should applaud and
celebration the British Museum’s novel use of the book to create art, but
is the ‘wheel of books’ just a cheap gimmick or we should we be mindful of
what could be easily copied?
The British Museum’s newly refurbished bookshop got Lumsden Design, who are
based in East London, to create their space and engage customers. At is
centre is a two metre ‘wheel of books’ which sits proud in the shop’s
window. It has caught people’s imagination and has engaged, but is it about
promoting books for reading, or promoting them a... more »

*"I bought Mein Kampf when I was 17, I've got it on a shelf in the front
room back home."*
*- Tony Benn *
*Should Germans Read ‘Mein Kampf’?*
*By PETER ROSS RANGE*
*JULY 7, 2014*
WASHINGTON — GERMANY is once again passing through the wringer of its past.
At issue this time are not the deeds but the words of Adolf Hitler and the
planned republication of his infamous manifesto-as-autobiography, “*Mein*
*Kampf*,” a book that has been officially suppressed in the country since
the end of World War II.
*But while the prospect of the Führer’s words circulating freely on the
German ma... more »

“Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work
Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al., uses NCES
polling data from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 to 2003-04 to 2007-08. It begins by
reviewing and challenging “anecdotal” evidence from great journalists and
education writers. As I explained previously, I believe the […]

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.